Range assembly



RA NGE AS SEMBLY `April 28., 1942. E. E. su-rHERLAND ETAL 2,281,084

Filed Dec. l2, 1939 4 Sheets-Shag*l 1 April 28, 1942. VE. E. SUTHERIQAND ETAL 2,281,084

RANGE ASSEMBLY File Dec. 12, 1939 4 sheets-sheet 2 3. @Y 77ATTOR Y April 28, 1942- E. E. SUTHERLAND ETAL 2,281,084

RANGE ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 12, 1939 4 sheets-sheet s INVENTOR5 linf Patented Apr. 28, 1942 RANGE ASSEMBLY Ernest E'. Sutherland and Lester E. Lown, Mansfield, Ohio, ,assignors to Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh,

' Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 12, 1939, Serial No. 308,782

8 Claims.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our application, Serial No. 177,722, filed Decem ber 2, 1937. Our invention relates to range assemblies and more particularly to the structure of a range door hinge mechanism and theadaptation of such hinge mechanism to a range structure.

With those ranges now known to-.the art, it has been the practice to have a rigid interior frame and superstructure therefor. With such an interior range structure, it has been a simple matter to adequately line up and operatively assemble the various cooperating oven door hinge parts without undue expense or time. This has been accomplished by positioning such parts on the interior framework. `With the advent of the range structure which eliminates the use of the interior frame and the superstructure and the substitution of a functionally integral wall structure therefor as set forth in the copending application of E. H. Lockwood, Serial No. 177,726, led December 2, 1937 and assigned 'to the Westinghouse Electric 8: Manufacturing very materially increase the construction cost of such ranges.

It is an object of our invention to provide a hinge mechanism which eliminates the need of having various hinge parts rigidly attached dil rectly to the range or wall structure. l

In some ranges now known to the art, it has been the practice to incorporate a housing about the hinge mechanism to keep the insulating material, which is located in close proximity therewith and with the oven inner lining, fromv becoming meshed with, and prohibiting the proper functioning of thehinge mechanism. However, it is'to be understood that in such ranges, the housing is not used for mounting the various door hinge mechanism parts as a unit within the range.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a hinge mechanism having a housing to which various hinge vmechanism parts may be attached and by means of which said parts may be mounted as a unit within the range structure.

A further object of our invention is to provide an eillcient, inexpensive, economically rugged hinge mechanism which may be readily mounted within any desirable range structure or the like.

Other objects of lour invention will either be pointed out specifically in the course of the following description of the device embodying our invention or will be apparent from such description.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a range embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view, with parts broken away, of a portion of the range shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail view, in vertical section, showing a hinge mechanism inposition between a rangewall and the oven liner;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are top plan and front elevational views, respectively, of a portion of the range structure shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a door hinge mechanism embodying our' invention;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of a hinge mechanism in closed position; and,

Fig. 9 is a view corresponding to Fig. 8 with the door in open position.

Like reference characters indicate like parts in the several figures.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, we show a range structure I0 including an enclosing wall structure I2 comprising a plurality of functionally integral walls which embrace a plurality of spaced compartments including an oven I4, `an oven door I8, and two hinge mechanisms I6 for pivotally mounting the oven door I8 on the wall structure I2.

The range structure I may be constructed in any suitable manner. However, it is preferred that such range structure embody the wraparound feature in which the wall structure comprises ,a plurality of angularly related functionally integral walls substantially as described in the above-identified copending patent application of E. H. Lockwood. However, it is to be understood thatthe door hinge mechanism herein disclosed may also be associated with other range structures. i

The range wall structure I2 comprises substantially a continuous wall member which forms the two sides and the front,'the front having a plurality of apertures i9 and 20 located therein substantially as shown in Fig. 6.A The range structure I0 includes a horizontally-disposed supporting plate 22 which is rigidly attached to the wall structure I2 by means of suitable reinforcing brackets 24 and 26.`

- As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the oven Il is pro- In assembling the range structure, a pairl of the sub-assemblies I1 are placed, onepn each side of the oven liner I5, within the space be-v tween the oven liner I5 and the wall structure I2, with the open ends of the housings facing the front wall of the range assembly and lined up with apertures 16 in 4the front wall of the structure I2 and a bell-crank hinge bracket 30..'#1-/1 attached to the oven door I8 and operatively as;-`

The subi" sociatedwith the sub-assembly I1.

assemblies I1 are mounted on the supporting plate 22 on opposite sides of the-oven liner I5, as shown in Fig. 2, each sub-assembly being disg' posed in the space between the adjacent walls ofthe wall structure I2 and the liner I5 as 'show-nc,

in Figs. 2 and 3. Each sub-assembly I1 com-1 prises, generally, a housing 28, and av4 hinge pin"E 32, a latch lever 34, a stop strap 38 anda roller 62, all mounted on the housing 28. lThe housing 28 thus serves for assembling these parts into a unitary structure and for mounting them as a unit in the wall structure I2. It also `serves to prevent the insulating material 80, filling the space betweenthe wall structure' I2 and the liner I5, from becoming tangled with thervarious working parts of the hinge mechanism.

Referring now more in detail to the hinge mechanisms, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9, the housing 28 is preferably formed of sheet material and comprises a pair of side `walls 1I and 12, a rear wall 13, and a top wall 14. It is open at the front and the bottom to permit the operating parts of the hinge mechanism to` be readily placed therein. The sides 1I and 12 are held together by a plurality of pins 15 which extend therethrough and are riveted over against the side walls. i

The hinge pin 32 extends between and through the side walls 1I and 12 and is'secured thereto in any suitable manner as by peening or riveting the ends over` against the outerV surfaces-ofthe side Walls. f

The latching lever 34 which comprises achanynel-shaped member may be swingably mounted within the housing in any suitable manner. However, in this instance, it is swingably mounted at one end by means of a'pin 42, the pin being* rigidlyfattached to the side walls 1I'- and 12 of the housing 28i'such as by extending through the side walls of said housing and being peened over. A roller 44 is located at the other or-free end of the lever 34 substantially as shown ini Figs. 8 and 9. The roller 44 is mounted to the latching member 34 by means of a pin 46 which extends through the lever 34, the roller 44, `and protrudes through the arcuate slots 40 located in the sides 1l and 12 of the housing 28. With the latching member 34 mounted in such a manner, and with the pin 46 located within the slots 40, such latching lever willbe able to rotate about the pin 42 as an axis but will be limited in its travel by the length of the arcuate slots 40.

A resilient member` 36 may be operatively associated with wall 13 of thehousing 28 at one end, and with the latchingv lever 34 at its other end substantially as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The resilient member 36 will then bias the latching lever 34 forwardly. However, the movements of vsuch lever 34 will be limited by the cooperation of the pin 46 within the cooperating slots 40 as hereinbefore described.

'I'he bell crank hinge bracket 30 comprises a pair of arms or legs 48 and 5I joined by a centrai arcuate arm'portion 52.

and oversize apertures 69. (see Fig. 4) ingthe sup- .porting plate 22- v ,Tomount the oven door I8, a pair vof hinge range assembly. As shown `in Figs. 2 and 3, the

space between the oven liner I5 and walls I2 and supporting plate 22 is lled with insulating materia1`88 which is packed closely around the subassembly` I1. The housing 28 will prevent the insulating material 80' from becoming tangled with and hindering the proper function of the operating parts of the hinge mechanism. 'I'he sub-assemblies I1 are fastened in position on the supporting plate 22 by means of bolts 6I which extend through apertures 60 in flange 58 brackets 30 are fastened to the oven door I8, one on each side, by means of arms 5I).A Then the arms 48 of the hinge brackets 30 are projected through the apertures 16 (see Fig. 6) in the front wall of the range assembly and the hook portions 5I of hinge brackets 30 are hooked over the hinge pins 32 about which the oven door I8 is adaptedto pivot. When mounting the door I8 on the range structure, it is necessary that the arms 48 be rst inserted through the apertures 16 and behind the stopstraps 38 and then the i oven door I8 is raised slightly and pushed inrthe counterbalance chains 54 are fastened -to the hinge brackets 30 by means of apertures 53 and the door mounting is complete.- -To remove the door it is merely necessary to disconnect the ;-:cbunterbalance chains 54, lift the hook portions .'5I of the hinge brackets from the hinge pins 32 :fand withdraw the hook portions 5I through the Ifaapertures 15, then lower the door to withdraw arm 48 from behind the stop straps 38.

"n The inner leg 48 when the oven door is in the closed position is substantially in ahorizontal position and the endJthereof-will be located belo'w'the roller 44 (see Fig. 8) which in turn holds the hinge bracket lever 30 and oven door I8 in closed position.

Y f From an inspection of Fig. 8, it will be obvious that when the door is in the closed position, the resilient member 36 biases the latching lever 34 towards *thel front and causes'the roller 44 to ride -on the cam surface 11 of the arm l48 of the hinge bracket 30 thereby applying a turning moment to the hinge bracket 3U which will hold the oven door I8 tight against the front of the oven. When the oven door I8 is opened, the inner end of the legv48 will cause the roller 44 to move the latching member 34 slightly toward the back.l As the oven door I8 is fully opened Yor moved into horizontal position, as yshown in Figs. 2 and 9, the free end of the inner leg 48 rwill vcontact the stop strap 38 which, in turn,

will limit the rotation of the oven door I8 and hold it in horizontal position.

When the oven door is closed, the inner leg 48 will contact the roller 44 and again cause the lever 34 to be moved toward the back. However, if it is desired to have the door remain slightly ajar, it is merely necessary to retard the motion ofthe door as the inner lever 34. `The lever 34, through the biasing acleg 48 contacts the -tion of the range structure.

tion of the resilient member 35, will then hold the inner leg 48 and the oven door slightly ajar as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 9. It is understood 'that the counterbalance device including chain 54 and resilient member 58 will hold the oven door in such ajar position.

The outer mounting member portion 58 of the hinge bracket lever 30 is bent substantially at right angles to the main portion of the lever 38 and has a plurality of apertures 58 located therein by means of which such lever is rigidly attached to the oven door I8 in any suitable manner. With those .range structures void of internal framework or superstructure as noted above, the sub-assembly I'I including the various operating parts of the hinge mechanism may be rigidly attached to an inner portion of the range structure as a unit. A sub-assembly I1 in this instance is located between the outer wall structure I2 and the oven lining I5 (see Figs. 2 and 3) and rigidly attached to the horizontal supporting plate 22 by means of a plurality of flanged4 portions 58 extending from the lower portion of the housing' 28. The flange portions 58 are located substantially at right angles to the housing 28 and positioned at the lower edge of such housing. l A plurality of apertures 58 are located within the flanges 58 and cooperate with the oversize apertures B9 (see Fig. 4) in the horizontal supporting plate 22. Suitable nuts and bolts 6I, for instance, see Fig. 3, may then be inserted through the cooperating apertures in the supporting plate 22 and housing 28 whereby the sub-assembly I1 will be rigidly and adjustably mountedupon the supporting plate 22.

The oversize apertures 59 in the supporting plate 22 permit the sub-assemblies I1 to be adjusted tothe right and the left so thatthe open ends i' the housings 28 will properly line up with the apertures I6 in the front wall of the range assembly. The oversize apertures 89 also permit the sub-assemblies I1 to be adjusted backward and forward with respect to the front wall of the range assembly. This adiustability permits the sub-assemblies I1 to be positioned the proper distance fromthe oven front so that the hinge brackets 38 will always draw the oven door up tight against the front of the oven when the door is in the closed position. It is further apparent that the hinge mechanisms by being adjustably mounted upon a supporting plate withbalancing chain 54 and counterbalanced resilient member 88 operatively associated with the hinge mechanism I6 will permit the door I8 through hinge lever to be counterbalanced and to enable the door to vbe easily opened and closed in a manner well known to the art, and, in addition, hold the door in a slightly ajar position.

Various modifications may be made in the device embodying our invention 'without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art and the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A range assembly comprising, in combination, an enclosing wall structure including a plurality of functionally integral walls, said wall structure embracing an oven chamber having an access opening therein, a door for closing said access opening, and hinge mechanisms for pivotally mounting the oven door upon the range assembly, each of said hinge mechanisms comprising in combination, a unitary sub-assembly comprising a housing formed with two oppOsite walls and open at one side, a hinge pin carried within said housing, and a hinge bracket attached to said oven door and extending within said open l side of said housing and pivotally engaging said in the range structure may be readily adjusted,

one with respect to the other, without the need of high precision tools and cams in the construc- This feature in turn permits the range door to be readily mounted upon the range structure with'v a. minimum expenditure of time and effort.

A roller 52 may be attached, by means of a pin 58, to downwardly-extending portions 84 of the housing 28, which project below the supporting plate 22 through suitable openings formed therein. The roller 82 is positioned in such a manner as to permit the counterbalancing chain 54 or the like to be'operatively associated with the aperture 53 of the door hinge bracket 30.

Such chain 5l will then extend backward horizontally within the range structure substantially as shown in Figs.2 and 9 where such chain 5I will be operatively associated with the resilient counterbalancing member 68, the resilient member 68 in turn being attached to a Z-bracket 'I8 secured to the rear portion of the range structure. It is, therefore, apparent that a counterhinge pin, and means for individually adjustably mounting said sub-assemblies upon said range structure, whereby said oven door may be properly tted to said access opening.

2. A range assembly comprising, in combination, a wall structure embracing an oven cham- -ber having an access opening therein, an oven door, a hinge mechanism for pivotally mounting the oven door upon the range assembly, said hinge mechanism comprising, in combination, a unitary sub-assembly comprising a housing formed with two opposite walls and open at one side, a latch member mounted on, and disposed within said housing, a hinge pin mounted onand carried between'the opposite walls of said housing, and a hinge bracket attached to said oven door and extending within said open side of said housing and pivotally engaging said hinge pin, said bracket having a portion engageable by said latch member for holding said oven door in the closed position, and means for adjustably mounting the sub-assemblyv upon the wall structure, whereby said oven door may be properly fitted to said access opening. y f

3. A range assembly comprising, in combination, an outer wall structure embracing an oven chamber having a. front opening therein, an oven liner in said chamber, an oven door, and a hinge mechanism secured to said wall structure for pivotally mounting the oven door upon the range assembly, said hinge mechanism comprising, in combination, a unitary sub-assembly separate from said range assembly and adapted to be mounted between the oven liner and the adiacent outer wall, said sub-assembly comprising a housing formed with two opposite walls and open at one side, a latch member mounted on and disposed within said housing, a hinge pin mounted on and carried between the opposite walls of said housing, and a hinge bracket attached to said oven door and extending within said open side of said housing and pivotally engaging said hinge pin, said bracket having a portion to be engaged by'said latch member when the oven door is in closed position for holding the same in closed position. l

4. A range assembly comprising, in combina- 'l tio'n, an enclosing wall structure including a pluv rality of functionally integral walls. said wall door, a latch lever member pivotally mountedk on oppositely-disposed walls and positioned within said housing, and means comprising said lever for limiting the movement of the hinge arm when the oven door has been moved to a closed position whereby seid door wiii be heid in the closed position.

5. A range assembly comprising, in combination, an enclosing wall structure including a. plurality of functionally integral Walls, said wall structure embracing a compartment including an oven, an oven door, and a hinge mechanism .secured to said wall structure and operatively associated with the oven door for rotatably mounting the oven door upon the range assembly, said hinge mechanism comprising, in combination, a housing, a bell-crank hinge arm rotatably mounted within said housing and secured to the oven door, said bell-crank arm having an inwardly-extending arm, alatch-lever pivotally mounted within said housing, resilient means engaging the latch lever at one end and the housing at the other end and biasing one end of said lever toward the inwardly-extending arm, means operatively associated with the lever" and the housing'for limiting the movement ofl said lever whereby when the door has been moved substantially to its closed position the biased end of said lever in cooperation with the inwardly-extending arm will hold said door after it has been closed.

6. In a range, a wall structure` forming a chamber, a. door for said chamber, a unitary subassembly separate from said wall structure and adapted to be mounted thereon, said sub-assembly including a housing formed with two opposite walls and open at one side and a latching device mounted on said housing and disposed therein, a hinge bracket attached to said door and adapted to extend within said housing through the open side thereof, and a hinge pin pivotally connecting said hinge bracket and said housing, said latching device being disposed in such position as to engage said hinge bracket when the dooris in closed position and hold the same in closed position.

7. In a range, a wall structure forming a chamber, a door for said chamber, a unitary subassembly separate from said wall structure and adapted to be mounted thereon, said sub-assembly including a housing formed with two opposite walls and open at one side, a hinge pin mounted on and disposed in said housing, and a latching device mounted on the opposite Walls of l said housing and disposed therein, and a hinge bracket attached to said door and adapted to extend within said housing through the open side thereof and pivotally engage said hinge pin, said latching device being disposed in such a position as to engage said hingebracket when the door ls t in closed position and hold the same in closed position.

8. In a range, a wall structure forming a chamber, a door for said chamber, a unitary sub-assembly separate from said wall structure and adapted to be mounted thereon, said sub-assembly including Ya housing formed with two opposite walls and open at one side, a hinge pin mounted between the walls anddisposed in said housing, and a latching device mounted on said housing and disposed therein, and a hinge bracket attached to said door and adapted to extend within said housing through the open side thereof and pivotally engage said hinge pin, said latching device being disposed in such a position as to engage said hinge bracket in one position of the door and hold the door ajar and to engage said hinge bracket when the door is in closed position and hold the same in closed position.

ERNEST E. SUTHERLAND. LESTER E. LOWN. 

